Conceicao, 42, took charge of the Ligue 1 side in December 2016 and immediately oversaw four straight wins in the league as they finished seventh in France’s top tier.

Ranieri has experience of working in France, overseeing Monaco’s promotion to Ligue 1 in 2012-13 and then guiding them to second place behind Paris St-Germain the following season before being released.

Nantes will be Ranieri’s 17th job in a managerial career that has spanned 31 years and has included all the major Italian clubs except AC Milan.

Atletico Madrid, Chelsea and Valencia twice are the other clubs he has managed outside Italy during that time.

His league win with Leicester remains his only top-flight title.

Nantes have won the French title eight times but have not done so since 2001.